I was assigned as a patio closer one night. As a patio closer, I make sure everything is ready for the following shift. So this means I’m stocking plates. I made sure there were enough ketchup bottles on hand. I also hose down the patio. Lots to do! I put on my ear buds, get my “Zumba Mix 2000″ music playing on Spotify, and I got to work.

While I’m spraying down the patio, I see a man pacing nearby. He’s on the other side of the patio wall. He could cause no problems for me so I keep on hosing things down. In fact, I thought he was waiting for an Uber.

As I get closer to the patio exit door, I hear a hard knocking on our locked patio door. BAM-BAM-BAM!!! I look over and a see a frantic man. He was about 5’6” with a small athletic build. He started yelling, “Let me in! Let me in! Let me in!”

You see, I grew up in the inner city. Drive by shootings and gang violence were commonplace. Y’all know what I did, right? I didn’t open that door!

The restaurant was closed and had been for at least 30 minutes. There were still workers closing down the place. I’m not letting the guy inside!

I ran to the dine in section and yelled, “Someone get a manager right now!” The male bartender runs to the patio door. He sees the man trying to get inside. The man was still banging on the door. BAM-BAM-BAM! You know what the bartender did? He lets him inside!

The man came inside the now closed restaurant. He held a silver phone on his right side. A server thought it was a gun. She yelled, “He’s got a gun!” A second server saw him and began to run.  Thing is, they just finished mopping the floor and they fell down on top of each other.

Here’s the scene. There were two servers on the floor scrambling to get up. I was immediately behind the two servers wondering why in God’s name did the male bartender let him in. The crazed guy was behind me. Then the bartender was behind him.

Eventually, the police arrived. They were still persuading him to leave while I was heading home.

I asked the manager when they left. He was knee deep in closing duties so he didn’t know.